Panadonic's line-up looks incredible this year...but doesn't it always? I really want to hope for the best that these displays kill in person as well as on paper. They seem to be a larger step forward than the small improvement 2011 PDPs represented. I don't really NEED a new TV, but if these panels are as good as they look, it may be hard for me to resist a 60" ST/GT or 55" VT.

I also don't understand why people are complaining about. Panasonic has always had similar lines of plasmas that shared a core panel, etc in common to meet consumer needs at different price points by adding or removing premium features. While it would be great to have every feature in a low priced model, most consumers buying a large PDP don't care if it has extensive calibration controls or THX or the best AR filter or premium design materials or slightly deeper blacks. These premium features drive up manufacturing costs - to what degree, I don't know - and That is why they have a higher end GT/VT series for enthusiasts who care about such minutiae.

And unless I missed something I don't see anywhere on the page for the UT50 mentioning it uses an infinite black panel like the S/G/V.

Since Sharp started kicking butt with last year's large format panels, I expected a trend towards larger sizes this year from other manufacturers.

Panasonic already custom makes larger panels (a guy at Best Buy told me he could get them to do a 100" if I was interested. (Way too afraid to ask the price.)), and I read an article a month or so back where some 'insider' said in 2012 Pansonic's plasma panels would have a nearly 'unlimited' size (whatever that means).

This year I was just hoping for: larger than 70" and 4k resolution.

Honestly, a 4k display with an upscaler would be a great feature.
3D could be in full 1080p and there's been talk of 4k in BluRay players in 2013.
It sort of makes sense to start rolling out the displays now.

I was thisclose to picking up either a Panny or Samsung 65" a month back but decided to see if something larger would turn up at CES. A real disappointment.

The nontrivial problem for 4K, though, is that there's nothing to watch in that format. As bad as the shortage of 3D programming has been for home viewers, the supply of 3D dwarfs the availability of 4K material. That helps explain why the new 4K sets received so little attention during the manufacturers' press blitz Monday, even though they will be making their debut in 2012.

"There is no 4K broadcasting," noted Panasonic's chief technology officer, Eisuke Tsuyuzaki. And given that the quality of 4K is equivalent to a pristine copy of a 35mm film print, piracy-conscious studios may think twice before agreeing to let any truly valuable content be broadcast in that format, Tsuyuzaki said.

"There is no 4K broadcasting," noted Panasonic's chief technology officer, Eisuke Tsuyuzaki. And given that the quality of 4K is equivalent to a pristine copy of a 35mm film print, piracy-conscious studios may think twice before agreeing to let any truly valuable content be broadcast in that format, Tsuyuzaki said.

That may be true for now and for a while. However, at some point studios will need to figure out another way to re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-sell movies and catalog titles to the public once Blu-ray is milked, hence, 4K becomes the main option.

That may be true for now and for a while. However, at some point studios will need to figure out another way to re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-sell movies and catalog titles to the public once Blu-ray is milked, hence, 4K becomes the main option.

BD hasn't even replaced DVD yet and even 1080i is downgraded for broadcasting, so I suspect it will be a long wait for true 4K sources becoming readily available enough to warrant a 4K FP display coming to the mass market.

I'm curious to see how a 1080p blu-ray looks upscaled on a 4K display.....if it is spectacular, I can wait on native 4K material. Has anybody here personally seen that?

Exactly, this is the big deal for me. I can wait for 4K material, if blu-ray upscales really well. i can't recall if i was impressed when i viewed upscaled DVDs on my PS3...maybe there isn't much room for visual improvement (since the source material is current blu-ray resolutions).

Who knows what kind of tricks they are playing.. but it definitely looks much blacker :P

It actually doesn't look that much blacker at all (sorry, I don't know if you were joking) and that's an ST30 compared to a VT50. Let's see a GT30 or a VT30.

Panasonic is going to lose this whole black advantage thing much more this year than last, I wish they would have kept up to a greater degree. I think these have a shot at being excellent panels, but time will tell.

Im not challenging Dnice here because he would know better than I would, but the bezel on that 20@2 TV looks like the ST50. Im sure I am wrong though. BUT wasn't the ST30 only. 0004 higher than the VT?

not for nothing but the st30 still holds it own against the new vt50.
yes the vt50 is blacker but not but a lot like the other guy said they should have
compared the vt30 and thevt50 and i bet they would look the same

Guys, the other thing is, that isn't a 60"+ ST30, (which is supposed to have a deeper black level) it's a 55. 55" sizes were measuring around .008 ft/L, right?

Comparing that to a panel that is probably at .003 ft/L when the other 65" panels from 2011 almost hit that mark is not reducing the black level by 50%- it's not even reducing the black level by 15% as someone had given that percentage to Robert.

hi I'm baaack! Hi Randy! Well this is the year I've been waiting for to get a new Panny TV
this new VT series sounds like what I want and I will be checking in regularly for info. My "old" Panny is a 50 inch PX77 I got in - what 6 or 7 years ago? Seems like I'm due for a treat.

Panasonic lists the vt50 as having a single pane of glass design, the gt50 just doesnt say. Are they both single pane of glass designs? Sorry If this is a dumb question but i am not up on what to look for and what difference it would make anyway. I own a pioneer 4360 and 5080 which I think are single pane.

Yep, at CES the Panasonic line looks great. The bezels are slimmer, the sets are thinner, they look good. The problem is they can not be tested and we have a little wait until the new line up will be out to do so.

-- I will note that Panasonics LED line up looked sweet. Almost no bezel and .5" thick !